This book updates the two-volume text by Fishman and coauthors published in 1980. However, one need not possess the parent text to make this a worthwhile purchase, for it provides complete and detailed information on a limited number of selected topics. Twenty-seven topics were selected for this update because substantial new information was available, or the topic had become of great public or professional interest. Examples are chapters on pneumococcal vaccine, short-course therapy for tuberculosis, management of small cell carcinoma of the lung, fatigue of the diaphragm, computed axial tomography, asbestosis, silicosis, sleep disorders, and pharmacologic therapy for asthma.
Each topic is discussed in great detail, with emphasis on how clinical findings relate to physiological and pathological changes and on how these changes determine what constitutes rational therapy. Each chapter has an extensive, up-to-date bibliography.
The roentgenographic illustrations are outstanding because of their large size, usually half a page, and